Abraco

Are you tired of all those boring muffins and croissants at your local coffee shop? Then head over to this tiny East Village cafe. Olive oil cake, cured black olive cookies, ricotta fritters and orange bread puddings are imaginative accompaniments for Abraco's great cappuccinos. (If you want something less exotic, try the chocolate chunk cookies.)

Abraco: 86 East 7th St., (212) 388-9731.

Udon West St. Marks

Here's a meal for the the barhopper who finds himself with less than $10 at the end of a long night, or the night owl who wants something savory before stuffing himself with Insomnia Cookies. Udon West St. Marks is open till 3 a.m. (4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays), and all menu items are less than $10. The least expensive dish ($5.75) is tsukimi, or "moon-viewing," udon, which is a large bowl of thick wheat noodles, a raw egg, hot broth and a sprinkling of chopped scallions. You can also order udon with minced beef, mountain vegetables, julienned burdock tempura, fried shrimp or yam paste. (If noodles aren't your thing, order beef over rice.)

Udon West St. Marks: 11 St. Marks St. No phone. Cash only.

New Grom Gelato Opening... TOMORROW!

Just in time for the warm weather, a free cup of super-premium gelato awaits you. I'll see you on Saturday, April 12, at 233 Bleecker Street!

Grom Gelato: 233 Bleecker St. Open from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Broadway East

Vegan food has been sprouting up all over the city lately, from Tierra Sana in Forest Hills (100-17 Queens Blvd., 718-830-0544) to Jill's Vegan Organic (231 Court St., Brooklyn, 718-797-0330). Red Mango's vegan red velvet cupcakes can be found all over Brooklyn, and the Upper East Side's Healthalicious (1594 Second Ave., 212- 988-8700) even serves a vegan Sloppy Joe!

But my absolute favorite place to eat vegan cuisine is the month-old Broadway East. (Where else do you come away with a packet of spinach seeds instead of matches?) This is no earthy-crunchy hideaway; it's a dimly lit, sophisticated space which is perfect for a date. In fact, it's perfect place for a date where one of the partners is non-vegetarian, as there is a sprinkling of items on the menu such as oysters, bass and free-range chicken. (This is an excellent menu strategy, apparently... when I visited, the oysters were 86ed.)

Our party of four munched on raisin walnut bread and an assortment of pickled vegetables as we waited for the appetizers. We ordered a refreshing fennel frisee salad with almonds and blood orange sections, and seared red beet tataki accompanied by diced yellow beet "tartare" and agar "caviar," livened up with sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Entrees were especially creative. The Peking tofu was the best vegetarian approximation of duck that I have seen; it used tofu skin stuffed with another preparation of tofu which had a meaty texture, and was served with a sweet dark sauce and cabbage. The "Mysore thali" was quite substantial with its skewered tofu, fingerling potatoes, and mushroom saag. My choice was a bowl of three crispy coconut tempeh triangles (I love the texture of this fermented soybean cake and wish I could find it more often), atop soupy, coriander-spiked lentils, greens, fried onions and whipped sweet potatoes.

Dessert was so good that one could have a heated argument over the last bite. There were both vegan and non-vegan choices; I preferred the non-vegan, buttery chai bread pudding with its melted dark chocolate chunks, crunchy brioche "dust" and saffron ice cream. The rest of the table pounced on the black cocoa cake and roasted sesame "ice cream." And what better way to end the meal than with a cup of Gimme Coffee espresso?

Broadway East: 171 East Broadway, 212-228-3100.

Batch (3/2009 CLOSED)

"You've come at just the right time," said Pichet Ong. He was preparing a plate of chocolate truffles for sampling. And these weren't just any chocolate truffles; they were the salted butter caramel, basil balsamic, white chocolate jasmine and saffron Pernod concoctions of Ellen Mirsky. She's selling 6-piece boxes of them at Batch, Pichet Ong's delightful addition to P*ong.

My timing had been horrendous earlier this week. I'd attempted to visit Batch on Monday after reading a newspaper article which incorrectly stated that the sweets shop was open every day. Unfortunately, Batch is closed on Mondays! Naturally, I had to make up for lost time. So I filled up on luscious raspberry cream cake, dense, fudgy chocolate mint cookies, a big chocolate chunk cookie, and a cake topped with thin slices of bananas. Oh, and those truffles.

Batch: 150B West 10th St., (212)929-0250.